HOLD FAST

HOLD FAST HOLD FAST is a celebration of contemporary art held each August in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/holdfastfestival

This year's festival is scheduled for August 12-15, 2026. HOLD FAST is a four-day celebration of contemporary art held each August in St. The festival is organized by Eastern Edge Gallery, the province’s first artist-run-centre. HOLD FAST is a maelstrom of creative energy. HOLD FAST is the anchor and the storm.

📸 Revealing the talent behind the camera! A huge thank you to our incredible festival photographer, Ritche Perez - Photo...
10/04/2026

📸 Revealing the talent behind the camera! A huge thank you to our incredible festival photographer, Ritche Perez - Photographer ! 🫶

Ritche did such an amazing job documenting HOLD FAST 2026, capturing each event, project, and all the little in-between moments that made the festival so special. From big celebrations to quiet moments, his photographs beautifully captured the energy and spirit of HOLD FAST.

We’re so grateful to have had Ritche with us throughout the festival and for giving us these memories to look back on for years to come. ❤️ He also wrote a blog post about the festival. Check it out: https://www.inbetweendays.ca/blog/holdfast/

Check out a few of his photographs here, and scroll through our page for more of his wonderful festival documentation!

Thank you, Ritche! 📸✨

Photos of Ritche by .ir

What a festival it has been. 🎉🛶As we are wrapping up HOLD FAST 2026, we’re feeling incredibly grateful for the love and ...
10/03/2026

What a festival it has been. 🎉🛶

As we are wrapping up HOLD FAST 2026, we’re feeling incredibly grateful for the love and support that surrounded this year’s festival.

On behalf of the HOLD FAST and Eastern Edge team, thank you to everyone who showed up, participated, volunteered, shared our work, supported our artists, opened their doors, donated, sponsored, partnered with us, and helped bring the festival to life.

HOLD FAST would not be possible without our core funders, sponsors, donors, presenting partners, venues, artists, volunteers, and friends. This festival is truly a collective effort, and we felt the support of our community every step of the way.

Thank you for helping us make space for contemporary art, artists, ideas, and community. We’re so grateful to everyone who made HOLD FAST 2026 what it was. 🫶

And before we officially say goodbye… 👀 We’ve got a pretty cool giveaway coming your way soon that you definitely won’t want to miss! Stay tuned!

xoxo,
The HOLD FAST / Eastern Edge Team

We’re delighted to share the 2026 HOLD FAST Highlights, a creative reflection on this year’s festival by our Writer-in-R...
10/02/2026

We’re delighted to share the 2026 HOLD FAST Highlights, a creative reflection on this year’s festival by our Writer-in-Residence, Than Brown.✨🎉

In the words of Than:

“He continued to explore downtown, passing a group of people spinning yarn, and a person singing while wearing bright colours, a rainbow cape, and a globe on their head.”

Through a fictional narrative, Than captures the projects, people, and moments that shaped HOLD FAST 2026. The publication is accompanied by photographs from our festival photographer Ritche Perez and illustrated cartoons by our Cartoonist-in-Residence Dylan Dixon, offering different perspectives on the festival and the creative energy that filled downtown St. John’s.

Read the 2026 HOLD FAST Highlights on our website and revisit the festival with us! ✨

Link: https://easternedge.ca/highlights-hold-fast-2026/

This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada.
Canadian Heritage

Continuing the celebration and highlights of HOLD FAST 2026! ✨This year, we were excited to welcome a Cartoonist-in-Resi...
10/01/2026

Continuing the celebration and highlights of HOLD FAST 2026! ✨

This year, we were excited to welcome a Cartoonist-in-Residence, Dylan Dixon, who brought a playful and unique perspective to the festival. Throughout HOLD FAST, Dylan interpreted our Featured Artists’ projects through illustrated cartoons, capturing the ideas, moments, and experiences of the festival in a completely different form.

Swipe through to revisit the Featured Artists’ projects through Dylan’s illustrations, and take another look at some of the work that made HOLD FAST 2026 so special.

This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada.heritage

🛶✨A look back at the incredible Community Partner Organizations who joined us for HOLD FAST Art Crawl 2026! ✨ NL Pipe Ba...
09/22/2026

🛶✨A look back at the incredible Community Partner Organizations who joined us for HOLD FAST Art Crawl 2026!

✨ NL Pipe Band
✨ St. Micheal's Printshop
✨ Quidi Vidi Brewery
✨ Nickle Film Festival
✨ Downtown Comics
✨ Urban Sketching Group
✨ Q***r Research Initiative
✨ Admiralty House Museum
✨Neighbours United and Sierra Club Canada Foundation
✨ The Arts and Aging Network

📸 Photo Credit: Ritche Perez, Caroline Clarke , & Shan Leigh Pomeroy

This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada.heritage

🛶✨A look back at the incredible pop-up artists who joined us for HOLD FAST Art Crawl 2026! ✨ Atlas Acidosis — The Market...
09/21/2026

🛶✨A look back at the incredible pop-up artists who joined us for HOLD FAST Art Crawl 2026!

✨ Atlas Acidosis — The Market Puppet: All Drag is Valid, Not All Drag is Bookable
✨ Kimia Rezaeinejad — Windows of Vision
✨ The St. John’s Spinsters — Spinning a Yarn
✨ UVIO — UVIO FM
✨ Jordan Smith — Artist Vending Machine
✨ Kenney Purchase & Carrisa Cooper — My Space
✨ Hadiza Bello — Patterns of Presence
✨ Hanushika Thurairajah — Threads of Resistance
✨SNSB - The Mighty Lion and the Hare

Thank you to all of the artists and collectives who made Art Crawl such a vibrant and interactive part of HOLD FAST 2026. And a huge thank you to the community spaces and businesses who welcomed these projects into their spaces and helped us bring art beyond the gallery walls.

📸 Photo Credit: Ritche Perez

This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada.heritage

🧵✨ For HOLD FAST 2026, featured artist Nora de Mariaffi presented CLOSE TO YOU, a fibre art project exploring intimacy, ...
09/20/2026

🧵✨ For HOLD FAST 2026, featured artist Nora de Mariaffi presented CLOSE TO YOU, a fibre art project exploring intimacy, connection, and the stories we carry through clothing.

Presented as part of Art Crawl 2026, CLOSE TO YOU builds on personal and familial histories of sewing and textile labour, reimagining clothing-making as a way of telling stories and creating connection. Through surrealism and humour, Nora’s three wearable fibre art pieces, a two-headed sweater, a shirt for hugging, and a three-legged pair of shorts, explore touch, care, and the changing ways we experience physical intimacy in a post-pandemic, increasingly virtual world.

These playful and unexpected garments not only reflect intimacy, but actively require it, inviting us to think about clothing as something that can bring us closer to one another. A special thank you to ALT Hotel for generously providing the patio space for this project.🧡

📸 Photo Credit: Amanada Penney, Ashley Hemmings, Ritche Perez & Kailey Ikkusek-Rogers

This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada.heritage

💧✨ For HOLD FAST 2026, featured artist Shanelle St. Hilaire presented 'WATERFALL', a multi-sensory installation made fro...
09/19/2026

💧✨ For HOLD FAST 2026, featured artist Shanelle St. Hilaire presented 'WATERFALL', a multi-sensory installation made from innumerable strands of glass beads.

Presented as part of Art Crawl 2026, 'WATERFALL' invited visitors to walk through the installation, feeling the strands gently brush against their skin while listening to the delicate tinkling of the glass beads. Created as a substitute for moving bodies of water during the winter months, the work offered a way to reconnect with the cool, gentle feeling of water and reflect on our relationship with the land we are on.

A special thank you to Howard Properties for generously providing a space at the The Lot on Harbour for this project.

📸 Photo Credit: Amanada Penney, Shan Leigh Pomeroy, Daniel Griffin, Ritche Perez & Kailey Ikkusek-Rogers

This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada.heritage

We are thrilled to welcome Shireen Merchant in her new role as HOLD FAST Contemporary Arts Festival Coordinator 2026!✨🌟🌠...
09/18/2026

We are thrilled to welcome Shireen Merchant in her new role as HOLD FAST Contemporary Arts Festival Coordinator 2026!✨🌟🌠

Shireen Merchant is an emerging photographer and arts administrator based in Newfoundland and Labrador. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and has over three years of experience in arts programming, exhibition support, and community engagement. Her professional practice includes roles at Eastern Edge Artist-Run Centre and Quidi Vidi Village Artisan Studios, where she has contributed to program development, artist support, and strategic communications, including leading initiatives that significantly expanded digital audience reach. Merchant has also worked extensively as a photographer, documenting major arts events such as the HOLD FAST Festival, Sustainable Fibre Arts Conference and has served on programming committees and juries for exhibitions, residencies, and festivals. Her work is grounded in a commitment to collaborative, community-focused arts practice.

📸 photo credit- Ritche Perez

🛶✨ For HOLD FAST 2026, featured artists Chelsea Dab Hilke & Fred Schmidt-Arenales presented 'SOMETHING’S HAPPENING IN TH...
09/18/2026

🛶✨ For HOLD FAST 2026, featured artists Chelsea Dab Hilke & Fred Schmidt-Arenales presented 'SOMETHING’S HAPPENING IN THE BATTERY (and there’s nothing you can do about it)', a performance and community gathering reflecting on the loss of the neighbourhood formerly known as The Battery.

Presented as part of Art Crawl 2026, the performance began at Harbourside Park and ended at O’Brien’s Park, inviting the community to remember, mourn, celebrate, and share space with others who love this beautiful, unique, historic neighbourhood.


The performance featured Sam Chaulk, Collin Glavac, Olivia-Graeme McNabb, and Melissa Williams, with dramaturgy by Sam Chaulk.

📸 Photo Credit: Daniel Griffin, Ritche Perez & Kailey Ikkusek-Rogers

This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada.heritage

Address

72 Harbour Drive
St. John's, Newfoundland And Labrador, NL
A1C6K1

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 12pm - 5pm

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